Community rallies around guardsman after fire

Community rallies around guardsman after fire

The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Dec 12, 2009 18:08:41 EST

CEDAR LAKE, Ind. — A 33-year-old soldier who was stationed in Iraq when his family’s home was gutted by fire said he’s grateful for an outpouring of community support following the accidental blaze.

Christopher Rekitzke, of Cedar Lake, on Friday night thanked a crowd of veterans and others at American Legion Post 261 in Cedar Lake. He has been home from Iraq for about a week following the Dec. 2 fire.

“My story is split between my guys out there wearing this uniform and all the good we are doing for that country and making sure my kids and family are all right, strong and no one is taking advantage of them,” he said.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_guardsman_fire_iraq_121209/

Stephen King to pay for troops' holiday trip home

Stephen King to pay for troops' holiday trip home
(AP)

BANGOR, Maine — Author Stephen King and his wife are donating money so 150 soldiers from the Maine Army National Guard can come home for the holidays.

King and his wife, Tabitha, who live in Bangor, are paying $13,000 toward the cost of two bus trips so that members of the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Unit can travel from Camp Atterbury in Indiana to Maine for Christmas.
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Stephen King to pay for troops holiday trip home

Vets with PTSD: When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again

Vets with PTSD: When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again
Bryant Welch
Psychologist/Attorney Author State of Confusion (St. Martin's Press)
Posted: December 9, 2009
Vets with PTSD: When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again--Tell Him to 'Think Positively
Johnny was a Vietnam War vet and one of my first patients. He had had over four dozen surgeries in a heroic effort by the Veteran's Administration to transform him from a hideously disfigured victim of shrapnel to a somewhat less hideously disfigured victim of shrapnel. There was no question his life as a "normal young American," much less his life as a robust young Marine, was over.

Johnny had been with his platoon when they were attacked by enemy fire and pinned down for the better part of two days. Much of his face was blown off. His two closest buddies died gruesome and agonizing deaths while lying on top of him.

As a psychologist, my work with him was not medical. It was to address the psychological trauma, then newly labeled as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD], that haunted him and to help him "grieve" that much of his life had been blown away along with his face.

The pain of his surgeries was nothing compared to the night terrors that undercut his every attempt at sleep. The flashbacks that occurred daily put him back in the jungles of Viet Nam and the noises in the hallways became the sounds of advancing Viet Cong. Nurses and doctors could suddenly become menacing figures who he believed had captured him and were about to torture him. He was terrified to take his medications and unexpected noises could leave him shaken for hours.
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Vets with PTSD: When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again

Obama wants QRMC review of Guard, reserve pay

Obama wants QRMC review of Guard, reserve pay

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 11, 2009 20:46:15 EST

President Barack Obama has ordered the next year-long Pentagon pay study to concentrate on improvements aimed at troops in combat, Guard and reserve members and those wounded in war, their caregivers and survivors.

Additionally, Obama wants the 11th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation, scheduled to begin work soon, to look at pay incentives for people whose skills are highly needed in current operations. That includes linguists and translators, special operations personnel, the pilots of unmanned vehicles and mental health professionals.

The review will be carried out by a joint service task force that includes the representatives of the military services, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and Public Health Service. The task force will have a year to complete the work but are expected to have a preliminary report for the White House in six months.

In a Dec. 11 memorandum to the Pentagon setting the agenda for the study, Obama said, “In these times of unprecedented expectations and demands, our attention must be on the well-being of our personnel in uniform. The defense of the homeland and ongoing overseas operations require us to examine and determine whether compensation levels are sufficient to sustain current and future efforts to recruit and retain the right skill set and experience level.”
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/military_qrmcpay_121109/

Unemployment for young vets surpasses 20%

Unemployment for young vets surpasses 20%

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 11, 2009 15:02:03 EST

With the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans now exceeding 20 percent, a key Republican wants the Obama administration to use economic stimulus funding to create jobs for veterans.

The 20.8 percent unemployment rate for November for veterans ages 18 to 24 is an increase from the 17.3 percent rate for veterans in that age group reported for September, indicating a deteriorating jobs picture for entry-level positions.

The new numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal there are more than 1 million unemployed veterans. “That is unacceptable,” said Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana, ranking Republican on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, who has been pushing since December — without much success — to have stimulus funds used for veterans programs.

Buyer has introduced a bill, HR 4220, that tries on a number of fronts to help veterans find jobs.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/military_veterans_unemployment_121109w/